About

Dialectio shows on a map how the same concept is written, pronounced and sounds in the world's languages and in the dialects of Ukrainian. It is a popular-science project: it aims to spark curiosity, not to replace a dictionary.

On the map now: 5,353 concepts, 82 languages, 60 dialects, 368,660 words and 3,087 recordings by real speakers.

How to read the map

1. Type a word in any language and pick a suggestion: countries that have a translation light up and the words appear on the map.
2. Zoom in on Ukraine or its neighbours: from a certain zoom level, words are shown per region instead of per country. Dialect words are purple.
3. Click a country or region to keep only the languages and dialects spoken there in the panel.
4. IPA in square brackets is the pronunciation in the International Phonetic Alphabet. The ▶ button plays a recording; TTS marks a synthetic voice.
5. The ≈ mark means an unverified word: a draft, a Wikidata concept label or a machine translation. Under such a word you can answer “Do people say it like this?”: once enough people say yes, it gets the 👥 mark (confirmed by speakers), while ⚠ marks a disputed word. An editor makes the final check.

Ukrainian dialects

Dialects follow the classic scheme: three dialect groups (Northern, South-Western, South-Eastern) and 15 dialects. Dialect areas are approximated by regions, which is a simplification: real dialect borders do not follow administrative ones. Lemko and Nadsian are also shown in Poland and Slovakia.

How to help

Do you know how this word is said in your village or town? Click “Know how it’s said where you live?” in the word panel, type the word and, if you like, record it. Contributions appear on the site after an editor reviews them.

Spotted a mistake? Tell us on GitHub.